Putin sees nothing extraordinary in protest actions in 2011

Putin is convinced that "the overwhelming majority of people do not want any revolutions"

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Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, December 10 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian President Vladimir Putin does not see anything extraordinary in the protest actions in 2011 and is convinced that the Russians do not want any revolution.

“Nothing extraordinary happened in our country. Public, particularly protesting activities, are growing in any country during the election campaigns,” the president said at a meeting with his electioneering agents on Monday.

He recalled that the protest actions reached their peak before the elections in the State Duma. “Truly yours, your trustee, in the opinion of the harshest critics, won in the first round (the presidential elections – Itar-Tass) after all, the debates continue over the percentage of votes, but no one doubts that I won in the first round,” Putin said.

The current downward tendency in the protest movement is not linked with the turn-of-the-screw policy, he said. “Any Russian citizen is entitled to express his opinion and to fight for it in any legal ways. I do not think that this is the turn-of-the-crew,” the president noted.

Putin is convinced that “the overwhelming majority of people do not want any revolutions, they want some changes for the better and the quicker, the better it will be.” Putin noted that the current decline in the protest movement is also linked with this factor. “We witness now what is happening in other countries, the countries, which undergo a mild transformation, and what is happening with the countries, where the revolutions broke out and do not end up to now, the full destruction of economy and social sphere, the death of people every day. No one wants this,” Putin said with confidence.

“The overwhelming majority of people are alarmed over this (tendency – Itar-Tass),” he said. “I am travelling around the country frequently, and I am feeling (their moods – Itar-Tass) people,” the president said. He believes that the leaders of the protesting movement are feeling the same moods of people, because “they are intelligent people.”

The president noted that the reforms of the political system also led to a downward tendency in the protesting movement. For instance, over 20 parties were formed, as well as “200 organizational groups and unions for the creation of new parties.” “The opportunity was provided to legalize their activities, create a party and fight for voters,” the president stated.

Putin also referred to the opinion of “many ordinary people”, who believe that the protest leaders “will take an airplane and will flee the country just in case, and we should live here, and no one wants any disturbances.”

“I would like to think that our critics and participants in the protesting movement will get down to the positive work, which is related with those opportunities that the enacted laws provided,” the Russian president underlined.